LAUNCHPAD

We're completely entranced by a new lamp by Astep that charges your phone via a single flickering flame. Sounds too far-fetched? Read on...

BY DEE IVA

We like to think there’s still magic to be found in the design industry every now and then. Things that shouldn’t work, products that shouldn’t be possible, installations that confound. Well, new Danish lighting company Astep has us under its spell with ‘Candela’, a clever table lamp by Argentinian designer Francisco Gomez Paz (right).

We spotted 'Candela' in April at the Palazzo Litta during this year's Milan Furniture Fair. At first it looked like an old-fashioned gas lamp with its soft flickering flame glowing hypnotically above an opaline glass lampshade. Closer inspection revealed it used bioethanol, a clean natural fuel derived from plants, to create the flame which generates its own electricity, powering LED lights within the shade and also handy for charging mobile devices via an inbuilt USB port.

From what we’ve seen it’s a bold and creative design that carries on the legacy of those two stellar brands. Innovative yet approachable, ‘Candela’ melds old world aesthetics with hi-tech 21st century technology, continuing in the tradition of elegant Scandinavian flame luminaries. This is what we want, right here, right now…astep.design

DesignFizz

DesignFizz is an international celebration of design. New products, cool places and spaces, design stores and destinations, design and art events, hip hotels, restaurants, bars, street style and music, this is your essential guide to what's hot in the world of contemporary design.

ABOVE: Coral pink (Pantone 16-1546) is Pantone’s Colour Of The Year for 2019. Symbolising comfort, warmth and joy this soothing hue is most welcome in these politically uncertain times. Expect to see an outbreak of this nurturing colour across all facets of interiors this year. From rugs to paint colours, from lighting to furniture it looks like we’ll be in the pink in 2019.pantone.com